Product Description

For years, Jonah King has been trying to get Annie to reciprocate his love for her---but she has eyes only for his older brother. Meanwhile, Gabe King---who's been courting Emma for months---refuses to leave the Englisher world behind and settle down. Will these two brothers find the courage they need to reconcile their hearts?

Publisher's Description

For fans of Cindy Woodsmall and Beverly Lewis, Rosalind Lauers Seasons of Lancaster novel A Simple Autumn is a wonderful Amish story about two brothers navigating through the troubled waters of love.

A LOVE THAT REMAINS HIDDEN, A FORK IN A THORNY ROAD

Jonah King has no desire to leave his close-knit community. All his hopes and dreams lie in Lancaster County, and many of them revolve around his longtime love for Annie Stoltzfus. For years hes been trying to get her to see what burns inside his heart, yet he remains all but invisible to her. Annies beautiful eyes reflect only her affection for Jonahs older brotherand her sadness when he chooses another. Jonah knows that he must speak up, but when hes around Annie his calm, capable demeanor flees, leaving him tongue-twisted and awkward.

Gabe King has been courting schoolteacher Emma Lapp for months, but she insists on keeping their relationship secret. Emma embraces her duty to set a good example for her pupils, but Gabe is in his rumspringa and still wild at heart, riding motorbikes and unwilling to cut his ties to the outside world. Much to Emmas deep sorrow, it appears that she and Gabe are choosing different paths.

As swirling leaves of orange and gold dance across the countryside, two brothers must find the courage and faith to reconcile their heritage and their hearts.

A beautiful story that explores the clarity of true love, A Simple Autumn is a bounty for heart and soul.

Author Bio

Rosalind Lauer is the author of A Simple Winter and A Simple Spring. She grew up in a large family in Maryland and began visiting Lancaster Countys Amish community as a child. Lauer attended Wagner College in New York City and worked as an editor for Simon & Schuster and Harlequin Books. She now lives with her family in Oregon, where she writes in the shade of some towering two-hundred-year-old Douglas fir trees.

Annie Stoltzfus pined for Adam King too many years. When he began courting an Englisher, she gave up all hope of ever marrying and having children.

Jonah King, Adam's 22 year old brother, always had someone special on his mind also. The problem was that he could barely talk to her so she could get to know him.

Gabe King, Adam and Jonah's younger brother, was in his rumspringa. He discovered the thrill of riding motorcycles. He was secretly courting Emma Lapp. She was the community's school teacher.

Jonah and Gabe both had to make choices that could affect their lives in the community forever. I had no doubt about the choice Jonah would make but I wasn't sure about Gabe. Rosalind Lauer's writing helps you get to know the characters, which were many. I had a little trouble keeping track of all the siblings.

The main plot is about Jonah and Gabe and their love interests, or lack of. Gabe and Emma's relationship seemed to be growing apart, while Jonah and Annie's was slowly growing closer. The subplots about the relationships of Mary and Five & Adam and Remy have me wanting to know more about their stories which are covered in the previous books.

The ten children in the King family suffered the loss of their parents when they were murdered two years earlier. All the older siblings helped with the younger ones. I could see the love the family had for one another.

I enjoyed reading about Emma's sister Elsie. Elsie had dwarfism. Not many Amish stories have characters that have physical or mental disabilities. It was nice to read about a not-so-typical Amish character.

The way Rosalind Lauer writes had me not wanting to put the book down. This is not a fast paced book that will keep you guessing what is going to happen next. But it will keep you turning the pages. She used phrases like "following the dance of leaves as the wind swirls them in a circle" and the dirt bike track was "calling to him like a coyote in the night." Her descriptions kept the book interesting. Rosalind Lauer must be a fan of the television show "7th Heaven", there are several characters with names from the show in the book.

A Simple Autumn is about the King family, moving on and growing together. You will see their commitment to family and the Amish way of life as you read A Simple Autumn.

I received a free copy of this book from The Christian Manifesto and Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review.

This book is part of the series called Seasons of Lancaster. You do not have to read the others to enjoy this book. This story is about two brothers and one girl. The girl has to decide which brother best fits with what she wants for her life. Will she choose the brother who always gets her attention or wills he finally notice the brother who is always there for her?

I gave this book 4/5 stars. The story was a little slow. I have read many Christian Fiction Amish books so I was hoping this would be as good as the others. The story was believable but the plot took awhile to move along. The characters also were not that enjoyable. You just did not really want to pull for any of them! That said if you like stories set in the Amish community you will probably enjoy this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.

The King family has had a rough time trying to raise a family in the Amish community. Their parents were murdered leaving a large family to find ways to work together. At first, like most Amish communities, whenever there is loss, they rally around and help one another, which they did at first. But over time as the oldest children Adam and Mary grew, they realized they could all work together as one to provide for one another. Adam the oldest son is being looked out through the eyes of the community because he has chosen an Englischer for his soon-to-be wife Remy McCallister. However Remy is a bit different because she wants to learn the Amish ways and works hard to become baptized in the church. Yet it doesn't stop people from whispering and judging them against the old Amish ways of the church.

For Annie Stoltzfus it is extremely difficult to come to terms with because her whole life, she dreamed of marrying Adam. Thinking she stood a great chance at becoming his wife, she never dreamed he would find love outside their community of believers and worse yet, bring her home to become part of the church. Annie now 20, wonders if she will ever find love or will she grow to become an old maid, raising the rest of her siblings and watching them leave and start family's of their own.

Jonah King loves Annie more than he ever thought possible only she doesn't seem to know he exists outside of being simply Adam's younger brother. Even though he spends as much time as he can helping her father out on the farm since needing additional help, he had hoped to find a way to let her know just how he felt. But it seems all Annie can notice is that her younger sister Hannah, would make a perfect wife for Jonah and spends all her time trying to play matchmaker. Will she ever learn just how close love is right in front of her?

In the novel, A Simple Autumn by Rosalind Lauer, we are drawn back to Lancaster County as two brothers in the King family try to find love as they battle their own personal feelings with conflicts with the women they love. For the younger brother, Gabe, he is spending his Rumspringa riding motorbikes until he feels called to the church. But when the local school teacher, Emma learns that he is doing things that go against the church, it may cost him the love of his life when Emma decides she isn't going to wait for Gabe to make a choice between her or his love of motorcycling riding? Either way it may just kill him if he isn't careful.

I received A Simple Autumn compliments of Random House Publishing Group and Net Galley for my honest review. Even though this title isn't available until the fall this year, I've been blessed with the opportunity to review it now and I can't wait for you to pick this one up for a great fall read while watching the colored leaves fall from the trees, to sit back on a crisp night and sit next to the fire for some great Christian romance! I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and just know if you're a fan of Amish Fiction, you'll definitely want to make a note to pick this one up or pre-order it now. While you're waiting, you can pick up A Simple Winter and A Simple Spring now, and get to know more about the people in Lancaster County.

The third book in The Seasons of Lancaster County Series, this book follows the story of the King family. Jonah King, also known as the Quiet One, is learning how to express himself and talk about how he feels. His love for Annie hasn't diminished over the years, even though she never knew it.

At the same time Gabe King is wanting the best of both worlds. Still in his rumspringa, running around years, he enjoys riding on motorbikes. His love for Elsie is also growing stronger and he wants to marry her. He doesn't plan to leave the faith, but he is not ready to give up the motorbikes.

Many times Amish stories seem similar. Some stories seem to go a bit farther and stretch what would really happen in an Amish home. But this book takes the reader into the home of an Amish family. You see the struggles and the joys of each choice that is made, each day that goes by. I enjoyed following the King family in this book.

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I received this complementary E-book from Edelweiss in return for my honest review.